The US dollar was slightly firmer against the yen late in the Asian session, while the euro was trading in an exceptionally narrow range ahead of the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting later today At 3.11 pm (0711 GMT) here, the dollar was at 116.22 yen, up from 116.15 yen in Tokyo nearly four hours earlier. The euro was at 1.1932 usd, up from 1.1924 usd in Tokyo US data releases overnight helped the dollar make some modest gains in New York, but these were countered by strong demand for the yen Some of that yen interest appeared to taper off in Asian trading, and the dollar managed to inch up in the afternoon here An important indicator for the yen this week could be tomorrow's consumer price index (CPI) data for Japan, used to assess whether or not deflation persists there. The Bank of Japan has vowed to maintain its ultra-loose monetary policy until the national core CPI posts steady gains and there is no sign of the economy slipping back into deflation. The euro was near the top of the range of 1.1913-1.1933 usd in which it remained throughout the Asian session, and showed no sign of breaking out as players held their ground before the ECB meeting, dealers said While a 25 basis-point increase in the ECB's benchmark refinance rate has been priced-in, dealers are more concerned about whether bank president Jean-Claude Trichet Trichet will signal this to be the start of back-to-back rate hikes The ECB rate announcement is expected at 1245 GMT, while Trichet will brief the press at 1330 GMT United Overseas Bank analyst Amy Yeo said her firm believes the market may have overpriced expectations of future interest rate increases beyond today's "Hence, while higher rates in the pipeline should support euro-dollar over the medium term, risks are for a pullback towards the 1.1850 usd level should Trichet disappoint bullish expectations," Yeo said US data releases continue today, with the weekly jobless claims figures due. Claims are expected to have risen by 7,000 to 285,000 in the week to Feb 25, remaining below 300,000 for the seventh straight week, according to a Market News International survey